1. September 19, 2013
Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
West Building, Ground Floor
Room W12-140
Washington, D.C. 20590-0001
re: FMCSA-2013-0317
On behalf of the more than 5,000 members of the American Road & Transportation Builders
Association (ARTBA), we respectfully offer comments relating to the federal hours of service
rule for motor carrier drivers, as administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA). Specifically, we are addressing an application for exemption from
portions of the rule by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA).
ARTBA represents the consensus voice of the U.S. transportation construction industry at the
federal level. ARTBA’s membership includes public agencies and private firms and
organizations that own, plan, design, supply and construct transportation projects throughout the
country. Many of these are small and/or family-owned businesses. About two-thirds of ARTBA
members are transportation construction companies of varying size and areas of expertise. These
include prime contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers. Overall, our industry generates more
than $380 billion annually in U.S. economic activity and sustains the equivalent of 3.3 million
American jobs. ARTBA’s membership structure also includes nearly three dozen affiliated
chapters.
The federal hours of service rule is important to the safety of the nation’s roadways, and
constitutes an equally important area of compliance for commercial motor vehicle operators in
the transportation construction industry.
ARTBA’s Materials and Services Division includes numerous firms who are also members of
NRMCA and are thus directly contemplated by the pending application for exemption. In
general, the application is well-reasoned and presents industry-related information we believe to
be accurate. It should be noted, however, that NRMCA’s application only relates to a specific
segment of the current hours of service rule – the mandated 30-minute rest break – and NRMCA
represents a specific segment of the transportation construction industry. While supporting
NRMCA’s application, ARTBA continues to believe that the transportation construction industry
as a whole merits an exemption from the rule, again as a whole. We offer the following
comments in that context.

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ARTBA contractor-members who operate in interstate commerce must comply with the hours of
service rule for commercial motor vehicle operators (49 CFR Parts 385, 386, 390, and 395).
Moreover, many states automatically incorporate the federal hours of service into the state’s
controlling law for intrastate commercial motor vehicle operators.
Above all else, these contractors are committed to safety – for the traveling public and their own
employees. They also seek to build transportation improvement projects with the maximum
degree of efficiency, innovation and value to the public.
The purpose of the hours of service rule appears clear. FMCSA publications note that the main
reason for the regulations is to “keep fatigued drivers off the public roadways.” The rule limits
when, and for how long, operators may drive commercial motor vehicles. The limits include
length of drive time and length of on-duty time (even though the driver may be behind the wheel
for a small portion of that time), as well as mandated off-duty or rest time. Various other
provisions of the rule require drivers to keep log books reflecting these time records.
Throughout various FMCSA comment periods (starting in about 2000) addressing the hours of
service rule, ARTBA has argued the revised rule should not apply to drivers in the transportation
construction industry. While NRMCA’s exemption application is meritorious, ARTBA still
believes an industry-wide exemption from the entire rule is needed. As we have expressed over
the years in comments submitted to FMCSA and to the U.S. Department of Transportation
(USDOT), ARTBA believes the rationale for this exemption is strong and worthy of the
agency’s consideration. It would relate to two major federal transportation policy goals:
increasing efficiency in the construction of transportation improvement projects, and preserving
the safety of all involved.
Transportation construction industry drivers are not long-haul operators who consistently spend
many consecutive hours on the road in a given day. They are short-haul drivers who typically
travel less than 20 miles one way. Many of our drivers spend substantial amounts of time off the
road during the work day, loading and unloading materials or equipment. Others may be
responsible for positioning a piece of mobile equipment at the beginning of the work day, but
may not be back behind the wheel until day’s end, so that their daily drive time is actually
minimal. As NRMCA delineates in its application, those drivers who transport construction
materials may spend substantial time in a queue to pick up or drop off those products. However,
in the indiscriminate eyes of the hours of service rule, these examples of non-driving activities
are still considered “on-duty time” and can end up prohibiting industry employees from carrying
out their driving duties past 14 hours on a lengthy work day.
Generally, transportation construction industry commercial drivers do not operate in a manner
that leads to concerns over fatigue that is the focus of the hours of service rule. Further, we are
unaware of any conclusive data to demonstrate that driver fatigue and ancillary health issues are
a significant problem in our industry.
Moreover, transportation project owners, the driving public and commercial shippers are
expecting more timeliness and efficiency in the construction of transportation improvement
projects, as well as less disruption to traffic. Transportation construction firms will often work
very long hours to complete these projects expeditiously, especially in regions of the country

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where seasonal weather is a factor. In other industries, a 14-hour window of on-duty time may
seem more than adequate. However, as described above, in the transportation construction
industry it can often limit the efficient deployment of professionals and resources on the
construction job site, without a demonstrable increase in safety.
Ultimately, this is an example of two areas of federal policy – hours of service as administered
by FMCSA and accelerated transportation project delivery as promoted by other agencies at
USDOT – that are simply in direct conflict. In recent years, the transportation construction
industry and many public-sector transportation agencies have been eager partners in utilizing
accelerated construction techniques to increase efficiency, maximize the safety of motorists and
workers, and minimize the inconvenience to the traveling public. This often involves total
closure of a bridge or stretch of highway so the contractor can undertake an intense effort to
replace or renovate it within a very short time frame – sometimes over a single weekend. In
recent years, we have seen numerous safe, swift, ingenious and high-profile examples of these
techniques, acclaimed by public agencies, elected officials, the media and the general public
alike. Similarly, natural or man-made disasters may require contractors to be extremely
resourceful within even more challenging time frames, to repair or replace critical infrastructure
assets that have been damaged.
FHWA has used its Every Day Counts program to promote these types of activities. A prominent
example was the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s “Fast 14” effort during the
summer of 2011, through which contractors replaced fourteen bridges in just ten weekends. The
public and media reaction to this innovative effort was extremely positive.
The industry is proud to be at the cutting edge of these emerging techniques. The intensity of the
work schedule for these contractors, whether leading up to or during the weekends in question,
cannot be overstated – nor can the industry’s satisfaction in these accomplishments. The same
can be said of construction materials suppliers involved in these projects, where “just in time”
delivery takes on its ultimate meaning. However, in these circumstances, the hours of service
rule continues to make the job more difficult by limiting the availability of certain key personnel
(none of whom are long-haul truck drivers) to discharge job duties relating to commercial motor
vehicles. The rule may also disrupt the timely delivery of the aforementioned materials to the
construction site. For these reasons, the rule may increase the project’s cost (in terms of
additional personnel required) without accompanying safety benefits for all concerned.
Therefore, ARTBA reiterates its desire for an exemption relating to the drive-time and on-duty
limits for all transportation construction industry drivers. Any standard tailored for the
transportation construction industry should be based on clear facts that establish the degree to
which – if at all – fatigue for these drivers is a factor that could lead to an increase in deaths and
injuries on the nation’s roadways.
It should be noted that other classes of industries are exempt from the general rule, or enjoy
certain exceptions. As one example of which we are always reminded in mid-summer each year,
FMCSA exempts members of the American Pyrotechnics Association from the rule so they can
transport explosives for Fourth of July fireworks shows. One would think that, as a national
public policy goal, the improved efficiency in the delivery of transportation improvement
projects would rank at least as high as the successful staging of holiday fireworks displays.

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Other partial or full exemptions apply to:
 Agricultural drivers during planting or harvesting season
 Vehicles operated by the federal, state or local government
 Drivers for movie and television productions
 Oilfield operations drivers (through which waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site
does not count as on-duty time)
 Drivers transporting propane heating fuel during the winter
 Railroad signal employees
 Retail store deliveries
 Utility service vehicles
A transportation construction industry exemption could be fashioned in a similar manner to those
affecting other specific industries, as described. Moreover, the existing rule includes a 24-hour
restart provision (as opposed to 34 hours under the general rule) for commercial motor vehicle
drivers of construction materials and equipment. So the rule already contemplates a unique place
for our industry and it would be possible to carefully craft a wider, viable exemption in a similar
vein. Such an exemption could address drive time and on-duty limits for the unique aspects of
our sector while preserving safety. Like the rule for oilfield operations, transportation
construction supplier drivers waiting in a “queue” should not be considered on duty, nor should
the time for workers who drive a commercial vehicle or construction equipment only incidentally
to their main duties on a construction project.
Moreover, in response to a recent federal court decision, FMCSA announced that the mandatory
30-minute rest break would not apply to certain short haul drivers. While this is a step in the
right direction, ARTBA believes all parties should work towards a full exemption for the
transportation construction industry, perhaps building on the aforementioned existing 24-hour
restart provision.
ARTBA and its members continue to be concerned about the wholesale application of the hours
of service rule to the transportation construction industry. Contractors and suppliers make every
effort to comply, but often to the detriment of efficiency in the project’s time and cost. Treating
short-haul transportation construction industry drivers the same as long-haul commercial truckers
defies common sense. Correcting this misapplication of federal requirements is the type of
regulatory reform that all sides claim to support. ARTBA stands ready to work with FMCSA in
this important effort.
Thank you for this opportunity to offer the views of ARTBA’s members and the transportation
construction industry.
Sincerely,
T. Peter Ruane
President & C.E.O